After what manner Gargantua had his name given him, and how he tippled, bibbed, and curried1 the can.
The good man Grangousier, drinking and making merry with the rest, heard the horrible noise which his son had made as he entered into the light of this world, when he cried out, Some drink, some drink, some drink; whereupon he said in French, Que grand tu as et souple le gousier! that is to say, How great and nimble a throat thou hast. Which the company hearing, said that verily the child ought to be called Gargantua; because it was the first word that after his birth his father had spoke2, in imitation, and at the example of the ancient Hebrews; whereunto he condescended3, and his mother was very well pleased therewith. In the meanwhile, to quiet the child, they gave him to drink a tirelaregot, that is, till his throat was like to crack with it; then was he carried to the font, and there baptized, according to the manner of good Christians4.
Immediately thereafter were appointed for him seventeen thousand, nine hundred, and thirteen cows of the towns of Pautille and Brehemond, to furnish him with milk in ordinary, for it was impossible to find a nurse sufficient for him in all the country, considering the great quantity of milk that was requisite5 for his nourishment6; although there were not wanting some doctors of the opinion of Scotus, who affirmed that his own mother gave him suck, and that she could draw out of her breasts one thousand, four hundred, two pipes, and nine pails of milk at every time.
Which indeed is not probable, and this point hath been found duggishly scandalous and offensive to tender ears, for that it savoured a little of heresy7. Thus was he handled for one year and ten months; after which time, by the advice of physicians, they began to carry him, and then was made for him a fine little cart drawn8 with oxen, of the invention of Jan Denio, wherein they led him hither and thither9 with great joy; and he was worth the seeing, for he was a fine boy, had a burly physiognomy, and almost ten chins. He cried very little, but beshit himself every hour: for, to speak truly of him, he was wonderfully phlegmatic10 in his posteriors, both by reason of his natural complexion11 and the accidental disposition12 which had befallen him by his too much quaffing13 of the Septembral juice. Yet without a cause did not he sup one drop; for if he happened to be vexed14, angry, displeased15, or sorry, if he did fret16, if he did weep, if he did cry, and what grievous quarter soever he kept, in bringing him some drink, he would be instantly pacified17, reseated in his own temper, in a good humour again, and as still and quiet as ever. One of his governesses told me (swearing by her fig), how he was so accustomed to this kind of way, that, at the sound of pints18 and flagons, he would on a sudden fall into an ecstasy19, as if he had then tasted of the joys of paradise; so that they, upon consideration of this, his divine complexion, would every morning, to cheer him up, play with a knife upon the glasses, on the bottles with their stopples, and on the pottle-pots with their lids and covers, at the sound whereof he became gay, did leap for joy, would loll and rock himself in the cradle, then nod with his head, monochordizing with his fingers, and barytonizing with his tail.
1 curried | |
adj.加了咖喱(或咖喱粉的),用咖哩粉调理的 | |
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2 spoke | |
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说 | |
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3 condescended | |
屈尊,俯就( condescend的过去式和过去分词 ); 故意表示和蔼可亲 | |
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4 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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5 requisite | |
adj.需要的,必不可少的;n.必需品 | |
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6 nourishment | |
n.食物,营养品;营养情况 | |
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7 heresy | |
n.异端邪说;异教 | |
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8 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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9 thither | |
adv.向那里;adj.在那边的,对岸的 | |
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10 phlegmatic | |
adj.冷静的,冷淡的,冷漠的,无活力的 | |
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11 complexion | |
n.肤色;情况,局面;气质,性格 | |
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12 disposition | |
n.性情,性格;意向,倾向;排列,部署 | |
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13 quaffing | |
v.痛饮( quaff的现在分词 );畅饮;大口大口将…喝干;一饮而尽 | |
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14 vexed | |
adj.争论不休的;(指问题等)棘手的;争论不休的问题;烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 );使苦恼;使生气;详细讨论 | |
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15 displeased | |
a.不快的 | |
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16 fret | |
v.(使)烦恼;(使)焦急;(使)腐蚀,(使)磨损 | |
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17 pacified | |
使(某人)安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 ); 息怒; 抚慰; 在(有战争的地区、国家等)实现和平 | |
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18 pints | |
n.品脱( pint的名词复数 );一品脱啤酒 | |
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19 ecstasy | |
n.狂喜,心醉神怡,入迷 | |
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